While staying at a good friend's house a couple of weeks ago, we were getting ready to turn in for the night, so I went to put my empty wine glass empty glass of water in the sink. I noticed there were a few more dishes in there left over from dinner -- and I wasn't sure what to do about them.

You see, I'm one of those people who has absolutely no problem leaving dirty dishes piled in the sink until the next morning, but I know not everyone is able to go to bed without tidying up. To be polite, I asked her whether she wanted me to load the dishwasher, and to my delight, she laughed and rolled her eyes.

It turns out she's just like me and thinks there are more important things in life than having a perfectly clean house.

And that got us to talking about people who can't go to bed until the kitchen is completely clean, the afghan on the family room sofa is folded and put in its place, and all of the toys are picked up and tucked away where they belong. Both of us agreed we feel sorry for folks like that -- because they're probably so much more stressed out than we are on any given day of the week.

Our little chat got me to thinking -- there are actually a few different types of cleaning style categories people typically fall into.

Anal to a fault -- These are the extreme cleaners, like I mentioned above. They simply cannot rest at night until the entire house is spotless and clutter free. If so much as a crumb is left on the kitchen table, it sends them into a state of sheer panic. Granted, their homes look nice -- but odds are good they have bags under their eyes from staying up late to clean.

Half-assed -- These peeps are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. They turn on the dishwasher every night religiously, but instead of putting away toys, backpacks, shoes, and the mail stacked up on the kitchen counter -- they just sort of shove it all to the side in neat piles that sit there for days on end.

"It can wait" -- Yes, my friend and I practically invented this category. Sure, we do our best to keep our homes clean. But when it's time for bed and there are still Legos in the middle of the floor or dishes in the sink -- it can wait 'til the next morning. Sleep wins every time.

Hoarders -- Ok, so these people probably need to hire a cleaning crew to come in once a week, stat. Leaving dishes out overnight is one thing -- leaving them there for a week or two is another. If your feet are black after walking through the house -- you probably need a little help.

Fakers -- I'll admit to faking it once in a while. Oh come on, you know what I mean, right? Fakers clean everything up when guests are around to give the impression of being in control of their household. But the minute they're gone -- the sheets in the spare bedroom don't get changed until right before the next guests arrive a few months later.